Daily Tribune`s Price To Be 35c, Starting April 4

The Chicago Tribune will raise its daily price to 35 cents a paper from 25 cents on April 4. The price increase is the first for the daily paper since 1980.

The cover price of the Sunday paper will remain at $1.25, the level set in April, 1986.

Also effective on April 4, there will be a single home-delivery price for all subscribers served by independent delivery agents. Based on a four-week billing cycle, the new price will be $13.40.

For many subscribers, the new four-week rate will be lower than prices charged now by independent newspaper distributors. Most distributors currently charge between $14 and $17 a month for home delivery, which is equivalent to $12.92 to $15.69 for four weeks.

Last October, The Tribune said it planned to repurchase rights to deliver its newspapers from independent distributors in this area and to convert to an independent agent system by April 4.

Distributors buy papers from The Tribune and other publishers, then resell them at their own prices to subscribers. The Tribune pays agents a fee to deliver its papers and to bill and collect money from subscribers. The Tribune sets and controls the subscription price in areas served by these agents.

The Tribune and a group of distributors have filed countersuits over the planned conversion to an agent system. Those suits are pending.

Howard Hay, Tribune vice president and circulation director, said a few areas will continue to be served by distributors after April 4. In those areas, distributors will continue to establish their own home-delivery prices. Hay said the rise in the daily price reflects significant increases in production and distribution costs for the newspaper over the last eight years. He noted that newsprint prices have risen more than 20 percent over the last 18 months.

Since 1980, he said, there have been many improvements in The Tribune, including new or expanded sections, enhanced color reproduction and use of high-quality, low-rub ink. He said the conversion to an agent delivery system also will improve service to customers.

Hay said that newspapers in many other cities have adopted a 35-cent daily price over the last two years.

Outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, The Tribune`s daily cover price will remain at 35 cents, the level set in 1982.